Reach into one of the reef pockets off St Kitts and you'll feel hot water
flowing out of the ground, a reminder that Mt. Liamuiga, which dominates the
island, is far from dormant.

Called Mount Misery by the Carib Indians, the hot water vent is a reminder
that 3,792-foot Mt. Liamuiga may be only resting, biding its time until it
blows its lid again.

This vent is near the bow of the wreck of the RiverTaw, a freighter sunk around 1980 near the harbor
of Basseterre , St. Kitts' main city. Resting in about 50 feet of water, the
River Taw is a good-sized ship, 144-feet long by 70-feet wide that
is filling out nicely with marine growth. Lots of tropicals usually swarm
above the wheelhouse and other parts of the wreck.

Close by is theMV Talata, a smaller freighter
at 70 feet with several opportunities for squirreling inside certain sections.
Sunk in 1975, the growth on the wreck is unusual, ribbons of thin kelp-like
plants that vertically float from the rails and many other parts.

St. Kitts also is a treasure trove of ancient shipwrecks. More than 400
ships sank here between 1493 and 1825, but only about a dozen have
been located so far.

Still, you never know what you might find at places like Sandy Point
on the north coast. You definitely will spot exceptional large, hot tub-sized
barrel sponges as much as eight feet high and eight feet across. The extensive
reef formation begins at 50 feet and drops to about 100.

Coconut Tree Reef begins at 50 feet and drops off to 200,
so there is something to occupy both experienced and new divers. Sea fans
and sponges are the most notable marine forms.

You may have to share Bloody Bay Reef with commercial fishermen
using hand lines for snappers, but their bait sometimes draws sharks into
the area. The sharks typically depart when divers appear. Bloody Bay Reef
contains lots of yellow sea fans, bristle worms and purple-tipped anemones
and several swim-through caves. The bay gets its from the massacre of the
Carib Indians by the English and Spanish in the 17th century.

The reef contains lots of yellow sea fans, bristle worms and purple-tipped
anemones and several swim-through caves. Bloody
Bay gets its name not from the commercial harvesting but the massacre of the
Carib Indians by the English and Spanish in the 17th century.